Baccano!, Vol. 5: 2001 The Children of Bottle

Baccano! Light Novel #5

by Ryohgo Narita

The immortal Elmer C. Albatross is a Smile Junkie who'll do whatever it takes for his happy ending--despite not knowing the first thing about happiness. Three hundred years after the passengers of the Advena Avis parted ways, four of them have finally tracked Elmer to a village in Northern Europe where the inhabitants seem to be stuck in their old ways, fearing the visitors as "demons." During their stay, the immortals encounter a strange girl, and their past catches up with them...

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Manga, Fiction, Mystery, Historical, Historical Fiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 10, 2004

About the author

Ryohgo Narita (成田 良悟, Narita Ryōgo) is a Japanese light novelist. He won the Gold Prize in the 9th Dengeki Novel Prize for Baccano!, which was made into a TV anime in 2007.[1] His series Durarara!! was also made into a TV anime, which began airing January 2010


There are two traits found in most of Narita's works:
* Narita writes extremely fast, one volume a month if he wishes - with tons of spelling errors and missing words as a tradeoff. The editors like to leave them sometimes just for fun, though.
* His work titles often have an exclamation mark at the end (i.e. Baccano!, Vamp!, Durarara!!, etc.).

Kanji names: 成田 良悟 & 成田良悟.

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maiza and Czes have been informing the surviving alchemists of Szilard’s death, to tell them that they no longer need to fear each other as they’ve done in the past. They found and picked up the easily angered warrior of justice Nile and the beautiful and glamorous Sylvie Lumiere on their way. And now they’ve arrived at a remote village in Northern Europe that isn’t on any map, to meet up with another old friend. However, the villagers aren’t exactly ready to welcome them with open arms, but rather with guns at the ready.

Elmer C. Albatross has settled down in a nearby castle. The smile junkie does his reputation justice, as the castle is now full of Christmas decorations. He’s trying to teach a couple of gloomy girls the true meaning of Christmas. Because he wants them to smile for the first time in their lives.

So why do the villagers call Elmer a monster? And why do these gloomy girls refer to themselves as sacrifices?


I get why people have their reservations about this book. It’s the first big time skip in the series. It features mostly new characters. And the plot is less over the top compared to the previous installments. But that’s actually a good thing for the longevity of the series as a whole and part of why I like this book so much. It’s much more intimate and down to earth. In return we’re also treated to some brilliant new characters, a very satisfying plot and an important powerful theme that elevates the story as a whole.


It’s really cool to learn more about the demon who gave the alchemists their immortality. And I appreciate it that here it is still very much shrouded in mystery. Sylvie Lumiere and Nile are pretty fun too. Sylvie claims her time in the spotlights in the beginning, while Nile stays in the background for quite a while. Though in the end it’s Nile who ends up stealing the show. And even the immortal young boy Czes gets a chance to really shine here. But the most interesting character of the bunch is without a shred of a doubt Elmer C. Albatross.


It’s also really fun to learn about the Japanese Valentine’s Day tradition, where women give chocolate to the men. How it originated from a translation error in a marketing campaign. And how it eventually led to the creation of White Day.


Honestly, one of my favorite books of the whole series. And it also introduces my favorite character of the whole series: Elmer C. Albatross.

[Shogo Makishima · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the concept of this story was too original and radical for the average Baccano reader. Hence so many negative reviews. For my part I think this is one of Ryohgo Narita's best stories.

[Khawla Al-Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know if that’s true; I need to experiment this by rereading the previous volumes. However, I've noticed many details that show how amazing this writer is! His writing always blows my mind and surprises me with his ideas. Now, the way he’s connecting the chapters from start till the end, I just love that.

When I started this volume, I thought I would never enjoy it because there's no Isaac, Maria, and the others as well as the time jump issue. But hey, look at me, wanting to reread it to enjoy it more. I will read anything Narita writes, even if it's a grocery list. Just kidding! 😆

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not that I didn't like it, but it didn't quite have the same tension as the previous Baccano novels.

However, I really appreciated the new characters introduced here, as well as the homunculus part of the story, which also gave way to more background stories, not only about the characters involved this time, but also some we crossed path with before.

Actually, it's a good addition to the rest of the series, but its atmosphere is so different from the previous novels that I didn't feel completely into the story myself...

Still, bonus points for finding a way to include Isaac and Miria.

[Eric Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ouch. After 4 great books, Baccano encounters its first real dud. The novel suffers from a lack of connection with the other books. It delves a bit into the origin of the immortals and introduces a few interesting characters, but the plot is so far removed from the events of the 1930s, that it's hard to care about what is occurring. Again the plot isn't bad, it's just not necessary. It's interesting to see the characters acting in modern times, but the revealing of some characters fates this early means that later stories that take place in the 1930s will suffer due to a lack of tension caused by the fact that most of the important characters survive in 2003. Thankfully though, the novel is saved from actual badness with the inclusion of new characters that are complex and interesting. Hopefully they will be encountered later on.

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the beginning of the Flying Pussifoot incident Czeslaw was my least favorite character, I hated that evil immortal kid. But after the Rail Tracer tortured the evil out of him he became kind of cute and nice, and I really liked reading a volume that features him so strongly. Also it was damn funny to find out that he is still traumatized by the Rail Tracer even when that was like 70 years ago. I really want to know what else he did to him, haha. Elmer and Maiza work really well together, their personalities fit quite well. We also get a new supernatural mechanism after immortality and I love the creativity behind that water-based homunculus concept! Hopefully we will see more of them in future novels

[Lynossa · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read this part 'a dwarf inside the flask' I actually became excited. It's so fullmetal alchemist, one of my two most favorite animes (baccano is the other one), but I grew disappointed afterward because there was no Claire, no Isaac and Miria, no Huey, no Gandor brothers. I got it, it's 2001 and Claire wasn't immortal, but I was expecting Huey the most and he only showed up in the very first part.
I like Czes' part because I get to know him better, and - despite not liking it - I get to know more about Elmer too from this volume. But overall it was just okay; I should go back to 1930s so I can meet Claire again.

[Terrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fifth volume of Baccano takes us into the future (well, our past), 2001. Unfortunately, we enter almost immediately into a town that time forgot within the forests of some random European country, so we're not going to see much of 2001 culture here. In fact, this town feels like something out of an M Night film, an eeriness to how backwards the folks in it are, their organizational structure, and their fear of demons.

Children of Bottle is so named for the children involved in the tale. You'll learn more about them as you go through, though the book pretty much telegraphs what their deal is almost immediately in the scenes with Elmer at the start. A lot of the mystery seems pretty face value and not worth wasting as much time as they do on the reveals to other cast, though to be fair, the cast realizes these mysteries long before they acknowledge them, so I guess the characters are about as smart / informed as the reader.

At the end of the day, I applaud what he was doing with the story, but I don't find it personally too entertaining. Just not enough characters I care about involved in this plot. If we see some of the characters that make it out of this one involved in future volumes, maybe that'll change my mind.

So, ok volume, but a bit long in the tooth for what it is. The book does confirm some characters still being alive and well in 2001, which is nice for if we explore times after this (which is almost a guarantee since they bring up the Japanese immortal character as someone they'll be searching for after they complete their objective in this European country).

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a fun book, but it didn't quite wow me as much as the previous entries. The problem I had with it was that all of the protagonists were immortals against mortal threats. Weird but still mortal. It just didn't feel like the stakes were very high.

I enjoyed seeing Elmer and hope there are more stories about him in the future and it was nice to see Czes get past his fear of the horrible things that people can do. I really felt like Czes had a really badass scene in this book that I will not soon forget. Nile was a fantastic addition who really upped the violent tendencies. Not like Vino or Ladd does. If violence could be committed in a noble way then I would say that is how Nile does it.

One disappointment for me was Sylvie though. I really wanted to get to know her in this book but that did not happen at all. You were told why she wanted to be immortal and her playful relationship with Czes, but not much less. I hope this is corrected later.

I can't wait to see what is next on Baccano!

[John Daniel]

You know how you can tell this was written in 2004 by a Japanese guy with a tenuous understanding of American culture? It takes place in December 2001, stars primarily New Yorkers, and doesn't mention the 9/11 terror attacks at all. It doesn't matter if the New Yorkers are immortals who could survive the buildings crashing down on top of them, it doesn't matter if the book takes place in Northern Europe, that nightmare was front and center in every New York resident's mind and would have come up at least once, especially since they are visiting old friends, that shit would have been mentioned. It would be like if I wrote a book that took place in Japan in June 2011, and starred two guys from the Fukushima prefecture, and didn't mention the Fukushima nuclear accident at all, it would be extremely tactless.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me see your smile!!!
I wasn't expecting a story based on Elmer! I love that Narita is willing to switch up the perspectives. With such a treasure trove of incredibly different and fun characters, why wouldn't you? Yet a lot of authors don't.
Despite Elmer's constant "smile junkie" attitude, I thought this installment was incredibly thoughtful/thought provoking and deeply dark (at times). The discussion between Czes and Elmer on the rooftop really got me. I absolutely loved it!
On to the next crazy train of events!

[Ricardo Matos · Rating 2 out of 5]

The start is cool. It then develops to a story that could be dark but never really is and ends on a super interesting twist!
Gone are the large casts, the convoluted storylines and plot twists that I really like in Norita's books.

In a story like this, where the cast must figure out what is going on and what's scaring/killing everyone, having a group of MCs that can't die... completely sucked the tension out of the story. It then became a "let's go through the motions, and eventually we'll get some answers".

The lowest score I've ever given to a Norita book.

[Josue Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike the previous four volumes.
Children of the Bottle is more linear, focuses on a tighter group of characters and even then only about three of them are really main characters.
It also takes place in 2001 but thanks to the nature of the setting, that doesn't really matter too much apart from the amount of time that has passed.
It's got an interesting structure based off emotions but it's not as thorough or committed to it, so it's not as strong.
It's fun, if a little bit dull. Elmer is a great character and we thankfully get to know him a LOT more.

Onto Vol. 6

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one feels a little harder to rate and review.

It felt a little more different to some of the other Baccano! novels, a very different setting, and different sort of pace. But felt more like a cohesive story perhaps than others?

It was good fun, but I found lacked some of the charm that certain Baccano! characters (who were missing from this volume for the most part) tend to bring.

[Niquie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learn more about the original immortals, meeting all but three of them this vol. I enjoyed Fil's pov chapters, but the children of bottle storyline was just okay, I didn't enjoy it as much as precious vols storylines.

[Taaresauce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the characters since we got especially deep dive on Elmer and Czes, it just that Sylvie kinda felt she's barely there lol. Personally not really fond of the plot development, though it's still decent in my opinion.

[RorSpike · Rating 3 out of 5]

封闭村庄的故事构架不错，但感觉并没有什么实际的内容在里面。
刚开始以为是休伊的实验，没想到却是塞拉德的

[Rolaka Pisarka · Rating 4 out of 5]

polecam

[Jule · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love it. Go ahead and appreciate Baccano!

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another just OK installment. In the last volume, I was missing the immortals, this time it is all about the immortals, but I was missing the setting of Prohibition Era America.

[Kayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a brilliant idea

[Anthony Stillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just when you think you know what to expect. Wow.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am gnawing on the bars of my enclosure

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, I should say that I didn't know this book was the fifth in a long and quite popular series. But I also started Harry Potter with "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by mistake (I thought the novels were independent, like Sherlock Holmes' or Hercules Poirot's adventures) and I still enjoyed the book, and ended reading the other 6 (by chronological order, though; and it was better). So that, of course, influenced my understanding of the novel and what was going on. But it also did that I read it in Japanese, my forth language. It also does when you read a Victorian novel (you didn't live in those times) or if you read a Russian novel (you didn't grow up there). In my opinion, with a novel, as with a movie, if it is good, in most of the cases you will enjoy it even if you don't know what is going on. Of course, the experience is better if you know what is going on.

Why did I buy the fifth in the series? It got my eye at the local second-hand book store, and it was quite cheap.

The story is not very complicated. Some 不死者 (let's say immortals) arrive to a little town in the middle of nowhere and there they meet an old friend. Some mysteries, some stuff about the past, some fights, and the novel is over. It is easy to read, the Japanese is not very complicated (even though it has some quite cute expressions like 順風満帆= smooth sailing (something goes well in life), and in some kanji it has the furigana reading (in some cases quite of a head-scratching: 何処(どこ) or 奴(やつ), more in the second case)). On the up side, as I said it is quite easy to read and the story is interesting enough, on the down side, the story is not very deep, it has all been done before, and better, and some situations become a little bit repetitive. Oh, and the Japanese is a little bit... well, in some cases is quite well written, but I get a little bit tired of novels where two lines become 何、何、何、何、何、... Once is fine. But is a very old and not very good recourse for a writer (just read Tokyo Ghoul, where this same thing happens quite a lot). Talking about "Tokyo Ghoul", this novel reminded me of the manga, even if it is a different beast. But the atmosphere and the characters are similar, in my opinion.

Good enough that I will try to read more of his books. But not great.

5,5

[Nameh dah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hay 3 motivos por los cuales esta novela no te puede ser indiferente:
1.- Czes, que se desarrolla un montón como personaje dentro de las novelas y tiene verdaderos momentazos. Se nota que será más protagonista de la saga en el 20xx que en mafialandia.
2.- Los niños de la botella, que si lo explico será spoiler
3.- Elmer y el demonio que les otorgó la inmortalidad. La historia de estos dos te engancha y ayuda a entender el motivo por el cual se aparece como humano dentro de la familia martillo.
Para los demás, si bien puede haber un cambio de ritmo desfavorable a causa de cambiar el escenario principal desde un periodo tan conflictivo y lleno de acción a la tranquilidad de un bosque, gusta, sobretodo porque uno entiende algo más de los primeros inmortales, los alquimistas, y de sus creaciones vivientes.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hehe, I'm hoping I'm wrong, but if this is 70 years after the Grand Punk Railroad incident, does this mean Claire is dead? QAQ If only he could have drunk the immortality potion as well, then the idea that he cannot die would really be true...

[barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

elmer c. albatross....we need to have sex

[WelbiBeto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nossa que erro foi eu não ter dado 5/5

[Snowy Nix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Score: 10